Adjustable paper stop for business machines



Aug. 4, 1953 A. H. SHARPE 2,647,610

ADJUSTABLE PAPER STOP FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Filed Sept. 26, 1951 IN V EN TOR. ARTHUR H SH4RP Patented Aug. 4, I953 UNITED STATES PATENTPOFF'ICEY ADJUSTABLE PAPER STOP FOR BUSINESS MACHINES Arthur H. Sharpe, West Hartford, Conn, assignor to Underwood Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application September 26, 1951, Serial no. 248,373

3 Claims. (01. 197-440) This invention relates to adjustable paper stops for business machines and the like having front-feed carriages.

Such machines, including typewriting machines, accounting machines, bookkeeping machines, etc., are frequently employed for posting amounts and other data upon I .work sheet within the machine so that the writing line will be properly positioned, devices have been attached to the machines to serve as a stop for the lower edge of the paper so that the operator need merely drop or push the form into the machine until the lower edge thereof contacts the stop, at which time the form is in proper position. such stops are commonly adjustable so that their position may be changed from time to time.

It is a general object of the present invention to provide an improved adjustable paper stop of the type referred to above.

It is a more particular object of this invention to provide an adjustable paper stop which will be positive in operation; that is, one which will prevent the edge of the paper from being inadvertently moved past the stop.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an adjustable paper stop having means whereby the operator can quickly and easily determine the position of the stop at all times.

These and further objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent as the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention proceeds.

Referring now to the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of the device, partly in section, in position upon a business machine carriage, the carriage being indicated diagrammatically,

Figure 2 is a plan view of a portion of the device,

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of Figure 1, and

Figure 4 is an exploded view of a portion of the device.

Inasmuch as the stop device of the present invention may be used with front feed carriages having greatly differing construction, no details 2 f of a carriage have been shown in the present drawings. I-Iowever, in Figure 1, an'ordinary roller platen has been indicated at [0 and a paper trough for leading the lower edge of the front-fed form around the platen has been indicated at I l. The present device may be attached to any suitable member which extends along the rear edge of the carriage and, in Figure 1, such a member is indicated at l2 and a T-shaped supporting bar is shown at [3. p

The present device comprises upper and lower rigid guide members indicated at M; and I5 respectively, secured together at their rearward ends by a pair of plates 16 and I1. The forward ends of the guide members 14 and iii are curved as indicated in Figure 1 to receive the leading edge of a ledger sheet or other Work form Was it leaves the guide trough I i. The lower member 15 is provided with a hooked portion l9 and with a spring-urged latch member 20 for attaching the device to the carriage. The guide members l4 and iii are spaced only a relativelysmall distance apart so as to provide a channel therebetween for guiding the work sheet. Ordinarily such devices will be used in pairs with one of them positioned near each lateral edge of the work sheets.

Positioned within the channel formed by the guide members I l and i5 is an elongated flexible element 2|, shown in detail in Figure 4. -A block 22 is seatedwithin a substantially square opening 23 provided in the element 2| and a screw 24 extends through an elongated slot 25 provided in the member [4 and is screwed into the block 22 to thereby hold the flexible element 21 in its proper position within the guide channel. A suitable spring 26 may be positioned between the head of the screw 24 and the upper guide member 14 to frictionally maintain the element M in any position to which it may be moved within the channel. The head of the screw 24 serves as an operating means for the element 2|.

The forward end of the element 21 is slit to provide a plurality of fingers 21 and 28. In the present embodiment, there are two fingers 21 and two fingers 28, the fingers 21 being bent downwardly and the fingers 28 being bent upwardly from the plane of the element 2|. The extreme forward ends of the fingers 21 are bent sharply downward and the extreme forward ends of the fingers 28 are bent sharply upward, as particularly well shown in Figure 4'. and the length of the bent portions of the fingers are each greater than half the distance between the guide'members l4 and I5. Thus, when the flexible element 2: is

of thework 'sheet'I8 cannot pass.- -This overlappingof the ends of the fingers 2'! and 2B is particularly obvious from Figure 3.

The fingers 21 and 28 are, of course, posi' tioned away from the center bfthe-""gui'de'-*mein I bers I4 and I5 so that they will not extend into- 11 the elongated slot 25, and as a result thereof, the; pposition of the barrier formedbyftheiends'of;T said fingers cannot be readily determined. In;

order to obviate this difiiculty, the element 2| has been provided with means-in the 'iorni' of'an' extension 29 which, when said element is located between the guide members I4 and I5, is in align ment with theelongated slot 25 in the upper guide member; The extension 29 is of such length that its'end is in alignment with the sharply bent ends'of the fingers 21 and28, so that bylooking down from the top of the machine, the operator can" see the end of the extensi0n'29 through the slot 25 and will thus'obtairi an accurate indication of the position of the barrier within theguide channel.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. For use with abusiness or like machine having' a front feed carriage, an adjustable paper stop comprising upper and lower guide slot forming members, an elongated flexible element slidably carried byone of said members and positioned withinthe slot formed between said members, a paper edge stop formed'on one end of said flexible element, said stop comprising a first portion' bent upwardly from'saidflexible element so that the free end thereof is resiliently held in engagement with one of the guide slot forming members'and a second portion bent downwardly fromsaid fiexible'element so that the free end ofsaidsecondportion is resiliently held in engag'ement with the other-of said guide-slot formingmembers, said first portion and said second portion having a combined length greater than the distance" between said guide slot forming members, wherebysaid-portions form a barrier between said*members.

2. For'use with a business or like machine having a front-feed carriage, an attachment for guiding and limiting the rearward movement of front fed forms, comprising, a pair of rigid guide members spaced a relatively small distance apart to form a guide channel therebetween adapted to receive the rear ege of a front fed form, a thin flexible element positioned within said channel and slidfably carried by one of said guide members, said element being slit at one end to provide a plurality of fingers, one of said fingers "having an end portion bent in one direction to bear against one ofsaid guide members and another of said fingers having an end portion bent in. the opposite direction to bear against the A other o'f said members, the length of the bent end of each finger being greater than half the distance between said guide members whereby said bent ends form abarrier within said channel.

3. For use with a business or like machine having' a front-feed carriage, an attachment for guiding and limiting the rearward movement of front fed forms, comprising, a pair of rigid guide members spaced a relatively small'distance apart to'forma guide channel therebetween adapted to relieve the rear edge of a front fed form, an elongated flexible element positioned within said channel, an elongated slot' in one of said guide members, means extending through said slot and operatively connected to 'saidfiexible element whereby said 'fiexible' element may be moved 1ongitudinally within said channel, oppositely bent fingers extending forwardly of saidflexible element, one of said fingers pressing against one of said guide members and another of said fingers pressing against the other of said guide members, said fingers having a combined length greater than the distance between said guide members to therebyforma barrier within said channel, and means on said flexible element located in alignment with saidelong ated slot and visible through said slot "todndicate the position of the barrier within said channel.

ARTHUR H. SHARPE.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Fettig July 6, 1948 

